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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25752883">sunrise on your sins</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/divineauthor/pseuds/bipetermj'>bipetermj (divineauthor)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ambiguous/Open Ending, BAMF Michelle Jones, Banter, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Flirting, Identity Porn, MJ is the Black Cat, Minor Betty Brant/Ned Leeds, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, POV Michelle Jones, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Unresolved Sexual Tension</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:08:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,327</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25752883</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/divineauthor/pseuds/bipetermj</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Contrary to popular belief, MJ doesn’t have a tragic backstory for why she dons a black, skin-tight leather suit and a silver wig and swings across the city looking for trouble. She’s had some bad shit in her past, but who doesn’t? And there’s nothing about it that makes her want to do this. Sometimes stealing money from rich assholes is enough of a reason. Besides, it’s a hell of a lot of fun. 
</em></p>
<p>—•—</p>
<p>MJ is the Black Cat, Peter is still Spider-Man, and something always brings them closer together.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Michelle Jones/Peter Parker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>sunrise on your sins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>black cat!mj.... just hits different</p>
<p>title from: zayn’s “dusk till dawn”</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Contrary to popular belief, MJ doesn’t have a tragic backstory for why she dons a black, skin-tight leather suit and a silver wig and swings across the city looking for trouble. She’s had some bad shit in her past, but who doesn’t? And there’s nothing about it that makes her <em>want</em> to do this. Sometimes stealing money from rich assholes is enough of a reason. Besides, it’s a hell of a lot of fun.</p>
<p>So if she robs a bank or two or three and funnels the money she steals into an off-shore account that anonymously donates to various charities, but also keeps a couple of diamonds to herself, is it really that bad? Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, after all.</p>
<p>MJ is good at what she does. She knows it, the police know, the feds too, given her one stint robbing one very rich, very <em>bad</em>, very governmentally-important man’s laundered money. Her skills mostly involve breaking in physically, but she does have a few technical tricks up her sleeve to keep everyone from tracking her money online.</p>
<p>And if she made a deal with one magician to keep her identity intact, then no one else needs to know that either. Wigs weren’t fool-proof, you know.</p>
<p>Her base is in New York even if her… work brings her around the country. It’s her home and she grew up in Queens and went to school there and lost her virginity in that loft on 32nd and 5th, and she’s always felt the most comfortable swinging around skyscrapers in the dead of night. She does keep her business out of Hell’s Kitchen, though. Something about Daredevil always made her feel seen, even with the protections she’s granted herself. Sure, she helps out in monetary ways, but she’ll leave the distressed citizens for him to deal with. She’s met some of the other vigilantes, but never sticks around to chat. That’s not her style.</p>
<p>The Avengers are always up to international business, so the only person she hasn’t really seen is New York’s only red and blue spider. It’s honestly a wonder she’s never seen Spider-Man before, actually. He’s been active since she was a freshman at Midtown before she moved across the country.</p>
<p>MJ has to admit, she does steal that swinging bit from him. She has no idea if his webs are synthetic or organic and she’s no chemistry genius, so she fashions herself a flexible grappling hook and some claws that could sink straight through concrete.</p>
<p>Spider-Man really has that super-powered thing going for him. Unfair, really.</p>
<p>She never really thought of herself as the infamous Black Cat before, but there’s something about New York and costumed people that just makes everyone want to name them. MJ thinks it fits, though, in a way. She always adores the quiet ferocity and agility of cats, so as she makes more of a name for herself, she begins to really dig into the alias.</p>
<p>It’s not until she decides to break into a Stark executive’s office for information on where he’s moving money when she meets Spider-Man.</p>
<p>Needless to say, it’s not what she ever expected it to be.</p>
<p>She’s rifling through a file cabinet, because apparently tech-mogul Stark’s own <em>executive</em> cannot be bothered to scan his paperwork like everyone else in alive in the 21st century, but it’s to her benefit, so she’s not complaining as much because she might be smart, but Stark tech is incredibly difficult to hack. After half an hour of her cursing quietly because there’s just too many damn papers, there’s a quiet, almost inaudible sound against the window where she left it open to escape.</p>
<p>Her body freezes, but she quickly turns around and finds Spider-Man hanging upside down from one of his webs.</p>
<p>Well, at least she knows now that they’re synthetic.</p>
<p>“I didn’t know Mr. Vale’s room needed organizing,” he said, placing his hand underneath his chin, scratching his mask lightly. And, yeah, MJ knows superheroes exist but there was something seriously weird about how gravity does not affect him at <em>all</em>.</p>
<p>MJ merely hummed, swaying over to where Spider-Man hung. She makes sure her hips do a lot of work for her as she moves. She’s not gonna miss out on her, maybe one chance, on seeing New York’s favorite superhero up close. And besides, he’s quite… broad. In the shoulders especially. And that suit tells her everything and nothing at once about his body.</p>
<p>She’s face to face with him finally and she lets one of her claws travel up the side of his arm, not enough to rip it open, but just enough to tease. Her fingers trail close to go where she thinks she can see a seam where his mask is, but one of his hands reaches up and catches hers before she can do anything. She just takes her hand back and says, her lips quirking up slightly, “Well, Spider, Mr. Vale does a lot of things you don’t know about.”</p>
<p>Like funding a drug cartel with the money he’s been stealing from Stark.</p>
<p>“Uh,” Spider-Man says intelligibly and MJ can’t help the smugness seep into her posture. “What do you mean?”</p>
<p>MJ turns back around and struts towards the file cabinet again. “Eliot Vale is a bad man.” She finds her spot and miraculously sees the document she’s been looking for. Jackpot. There should be a saying about good luck and spiders. “Surprised Ms. Potts never sniffed him out.”</p>
<p>When MJ looks back, Spider-Man’s leaning against the desk, his arms crossed over his chest. “Some would say you’re bad too, Cat.”</p>
<p>She lets a grin slide across her face as she tucks the paper into her side. “So you know me, then?”</p>
<p>He ticks off the list with his fingers. “The Black Cat: works alone, extremely agile, smart, and—”</p>
<p>“Sexy?” she adds. Spider-Man’s arms fumble before they settle down on the desk.</p>
<p>He shakes his head. “A thief.”</p>
<p>“Well, all of it’s true,” she says. She has a clear shot out of the room and she lazily salutes him before she lets her grappling hook fly out and latch onto the next building over. She tugs at it, making sure it’s solid even though she knows it is, and winks. “See you later, Spider. Loved our little chat.”</p>
<p>Then, she lets herself get pulled out.</p>
<p>There’s a distant, <em>“Hey, wait—</em>” but she’s already out the window, her claws digging into the side of the building before she swings up and rolls onto a different roof across from her. She knows she’s not as fast as Spider-Man, doesn’t exactly have the strength to fling herself like that, so she hides. She stays as quiet as a mouse and watches as Spider-Man swings by and away from her.</p>
<p>That’s New York’s favorite superhero, huh?</p>
<p>She can’t lie. He is kind of attractive. And there’s something intriguing about his secret identity. What kind of man makes enemies like he does and still manages to be so <em>kind</em>?</p>
<p>And, well, MJ always loves a bit of a mystery.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>MJ doesn’t have a day job, so to say. She kind of wants one given how much time it took to meticulously plan a heist. Here’s what they don’t tell you about committing crimes: there’s more waiting than action. After inputting the information she gleans from the document into a hard drive, she has to wait until Vale makes another transaction before she can strike.</p>
<p>And, listen, she’s smart and sitting around lounging in her high rise apartment is fun and all, but she’s getting <em>antsy</em> without anything to fill her time. She’s not exactly well-known outside of her suit, except that she has a law degree, passed her LSAT with a 174, and passed the bar exam her first year out. MJ kind of loved the irony. A thief with a degree in law.</p>
<p>At least she knows exactly what laws she’s breaking.</p>
<p>MJ sighs and puts down the book that has lost her interest about a hundred pages ago. A bad thing about moving back to New York is that she feels at home, but she doesn’t feel like she fits quite right anymore. She didn’t have many friends growing up because she always liked being alone, but she can admit that she's a little <em>lonely</em>.</p>
<p>The only thing that’s interested her—that isn’t her night work—is Spider-Man and he’s probably out there picking up a stray kitten from a tree. Not exactly looking for a <em>different</em> Cat, right now.</p>
<p>She slips on high-waisted, orange trousers and a matching silk top paired with black high-heeled boots before throwing a black coat over it. She fixes her hair, adds a blood-orange lip, and takes the elevator down.</p>
<p>She used to hate it, you know, the attention. That was back in middle school and the beginning of high school before she took several martial arts classes after she and her friend, Gwen, almost got attacked by a couple of too-handsy, drunk guys with superiority complexes. She gained some confidence and realized she could weaponize her mind as well as her body.</p>
<p>And even though MJ isn’t even going anywhere special, just the local bookstore she always frequents downtown, she likes looking good. And if she’s planning on bringing a cute nerd back to her apartment, that’s on her. If not, a better book to read is still a great substitute.</p>
<p>By the time she reaches the bookshop, she notices they renovated a little. Added a few more shelves with some board games and toys. She picks up a Lord of the Rings poster and scrunches her nose, smiling.</p>
<p>“Michelle?” someone says behind her and she turns around to see Ned Leeds and Betty Brant holding hands.</p>
<p>“Ned? Betty?” MJ puts the poster down and almost stumbles as Betty pulls her into a hug.</p>
<p>“Oh my God, it <em>is</em> you!” Betty says. “It’s been so long. How long have you been back in New York? You look so different, I almost thought it wasn’t you. Not bad different, of course. A good different. Great, really! You’re gorgeous”</p>
<p>MJ laughs. “Thanks, you too. And I just moved back a couple of months ago.”</p>
<p>“Ned, go get Peter, he’s missing out,” Betty says and Ned just nods and goes to the next aisle where she’s pretty sure holds the Star Wars memorabilia. God, they’re still dorks. It’s good to see that nothing’s really changed that much. She turns her attention towards MJ again. “We should all hang out sometime. It’s so funny how we’re all here!”</p>
<p>Ned comes around and behind him is—holy shit. That is <em>not</em> Peter Parker. It can’t be. He’s still around the same height he was in high school, maybe an inch or two taller, but that nerdy graphic tee he’s sporting is straining across his chest which means he’s actually <em>ripped</em>. The last time she saw Peter was when he was mooning over Liz Allan and was drowning in his over-sized shirts. She heard he took her to homecoming, but she moved before she could actually attend herself. </p>
<p>“Oh, hey, Michelle,” he says and she can see that he’s bouncing on the balls of his feet a little.</p>
<p>She doesn’t know why she says it because she hasn’t been called that in honestly a decade, but the words fall from her lips, “Call me MJ.”</p>
<p>Peter grins up at her and, <em>damn</em>, he has such a dorky smile that it makes her a little giddy. What the fuck. How can Peter Parker have this effect on her while yesterday night, she had her hands all over Spider-Man without more than a cursory reaction. “Hey, MJ.”</p>
<p>Ned interrupts, “We were checking out the stuff they had, then we were gonna grab some lunch. You’re free to join if you want.”</p>
<p>She has nothing to do besides sit around, so she accepts.</p>
<p>Their lunch is just grabbing a hot dog from a stand and standing around talking to each other in the middle of the street and it’s the most fun she’s had in ages. Ned and Betty graduated from Stanford, where they met up and rekindled their friendship and began dating. Peter stayed in New York and graduated from ESU with a BA in biophysics and a PhD in biochemistry. Ned’s now working at Stark Industries—something she keeps a mental note of in her head—while Betty’s working under J.J. Jameson at the Daily Bugle.</p>
<p>“Wait, the guy who bashes Spider-Man on the regular?” MJ asks, scrunching up her nose at the thought. Betty gives her a solemn nod.</p>
<p>“Peter works with him too. Right, Pete?” Betty turns to Peter who just guzzled the last of his second mustard-only hot dog and looks about ready to eat a third. MJ holds back a snicker.</p>
<p>He chews quickly and nods. “Yeah, I’m the photographer.”</p>
<p>Her mind scans a few of the headlines she’s read about Spider-Man and focuses on how she never noticed that every clean shot of Spider-Man was taken by Peter Parker. It’s… interesting because even though it’s been a long time since she’s seen Peter, she knows how insanely smart he is. He has the degrees to prove it, so <em>why</em> exactly is he working under someone like Jameson?</p>
<p>Apparently the look on her face asks her questions for her because Peter replies, “He’s not <em>that</em> bad.”</p>
<p>Betty gives him a dry look.</p>
<p>“Okay, he’s an asshole sometimes, but it kinda grows on you.” Peter wipes his fingers with a napkin and shoots it at the garbage bin a few feet away. It lands.</p>
<p>“But you have a PhD, why would you…” MJ starts, even though she’s being somewhat of a hypocrite. Her law degree is sitting around in her apartment, useless.</p>
<p>“Well, uh, Aunt May got sick—she’s better now, so don’t worry about it—but I couldn’t take any unpaid internships anyone was offering me and I’m pretty decent with a camera and JJ was hiring, so here I am.”</p>
<p>“Taking pictures of Spider-Man,” she finishes.</p>
<p>“Yup.” He’s rocking back on his heels again and Ned flashes him a <em>look</em> that MJ can’t decipher. Yet.</p>
<p>“That’s a little dangerous. I’ve seen some of those pictures you’ve taken, they’re pretty high up.” Too high, honestly. Does he just trespass private property to do that? How does he capture the pictures right where Spider-Man is too?</p>
<p>“Spidey’s a nice guy,” Ned adds, shifting his feet. MJ almost narrows her eyebrows, but she keeps her face blank. He’s hiding something.</p>
<p>MJ’s about to dig a little deeper when there’s a large crash and then a bunch of car alarms sound off simultaneously a couple of blocks away. She slides into a stance that’s more defensive when she sees Rhino at the middle of the wreckage he made, and she stills.</p>
<p>Bunch of rich, white men stealing money? That’s more her style. A seven foot giant, while probably more fun than fighting some security guards, is decidedly <em>not</em> in her pay grade. But… she’s curious about Spider-Man and he has to come swinging sometime soon. Preferably while she’s not a civilian.</p>
<p>Peter immediately rushes to push them out of the way, yelling, “Get away from him, hurry! You guys still have time before he reaches us.”</p>
<p>Ned and Betty quickly run the opposite direction while Ned waves her over. “C’mon!”</p>
<p>MJ gives Peter, who’s still ushering people away, one more glance before she runs towards them. With the crowd as it is, she manages to lose them and finds her way back to her apartment. It feels like it’s taking forever to get suited up, tucking her wig and mask on and securing it on tight. She opens her window and lets herself swing out into the fray.</p>
<p>It takes her a minute or two before she sees Spider-Man webbing up and slinging the cars that Rhino’s throwing around haphazardly away from civilians.</p>
<p>MJ hates destroying public property, but Rhino’s already made such a big mess, so she grabs a small grenade and throws it underneath Rhino’s legs. It’s not meant to harm, just distract, but it does its job and as Rhino roars and stumbles around, she lands on a streetlight near Spider-Man.</p>
<p>“Need a hand, Spider?”</p>
<p>“Cat?” His eyes widen comically—how do they <em>do</em> that?—and he quickly webs a car door that’s jammed shut and rips it out with a heaving grunt, before he gets a man out and directs him away. “What the hell are you doing here?”</p>
<p>“I wanted to help,” she says before flipping down gracefully next to him. “What can I do?”</p>
<p>“Fuck,” he says as he head spins around, taking in the damage. “Get any civilians out, I have to focus on Rhino, but there’s too many people.”</p>
<p>She grins. “On it.”</p>
<p>In a beat, she sees a young girl, probably fifty feet away trying to run but her ankle seems to be broken. She swings towards her and makes her wrap her arms around her shoulders tight before she swings away from the fight.</p>
<p>It’s slow going after that. She doesn’t have super-strength even though she’s deceptively strong in her own right, but there are so many people and, God, how do superheroes <em>do</em> this all the time? It might have been five minutes or half an hour when Spider-Man finally incapacitates Rhino, a feat considering Spider-Man is honestly shorter than her.</p>
<p>There’s a gash in his side and he’s probably bruised all over but he runs over to her as she brings a kid back to her dad. He’s out of breath when he says, “We need to go.”</p>
<p>“You sure? I could take these guys to the ambulance—”</p>
<p>“The cops are two minutes away and I’m not exactly on their good side,” he explains. “And, well, neither are you. I really meant it when I said you have a reputation.”</p>
<p>MJ rolls her eyes and looks back at the crowd that’s thinning ever so slowly. She hasn’t seen Peter anywhere, but she figures he hid well. She hopes he’s okay. She grits out, “Fine,” then goes to aim her grappling hook at a building when Spider-Man’s hand stops her.</p>
<p>“Just hang onto me, it’ll be faster,” he says.</p>
<p>She can’t tell what expression his face makes, but he sounds earnest, if not a bit rushed. MJ bites her lip for a moment, then wraps her arms around his shoulders, her legs around his waist. They’re out in the air quickly, moving much faster than MJ ever did. She’s a little jealous of his superhuman abilities now. The wind is a lot cooler, a lot sharper as it races across her face. She tucks her head into Spider-Man’s shoulder and smiles.</p>
<p>“Just so you know,” she says into the crook of his neck. “This is not how I imagined the first time you’d be between my legs.”</p>
<p>She almost makes him almost miss attaching another web to the next building. They free-fall for a bit before Spider-Man gets his bearings and she just squeezes her thighs a little tighter than before.</p>
<p>He chokes out, “I, uh, w-what?”</p>
<p>MJ doesn’t respond just yet and he manages to land softly on a roof. She detaches herself from him and he’s scratching the back of his neck, his eyes darting to the ground. He’s <em>cute</em>. For a superhero.</p>
<p>She smirks and runs the back of her hand across his cheek. “Thanks for the ride, Spider.” He’s frozen and he doesn’t even push her hand away like he did the last time she got too close to his mask. “We should do it again sometime. Hopefully under <em>different</em> circumstances.”</p>
<p>She leans in and gives his mask a kiss, right where his lips would be.</p>
<p>“Bye, Spider.”</p>
<p>Then she readies her grappling hook and swings away from him.</p>
<p>MJ should do this more, help Spider-Man out. She grins. It <em>is</em> a hell of a lot of fun.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hope you enjoyed !!!! find me on <a href="http://bipetermj.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> :D</p></blockquote></div></div>
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